Korea’s life expectancy reaches 83.5 years, among highest in OECD

Nurses care for newborns in the neonatal unit of a hospital in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, July 24. Yonhap

Korea’s life expectancy has reached 83.5 years — one of the highest among Organization for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD) member economies, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Wednesday.

The ministry released an analysis of key indicators from the OECD Health Statistics 2025 report, providing a snapshot of South Korea’s health care performance. While most data reflects 2023 figures, some metrics — such as suicide rate and avoidable mortality — were supplemented with data from the preceding two years due to the unavailability of 2023 statistics.

Korea’s average life expectancy for newborns, which refers to the number of years a baby born in a given year is expected to live, was 2.4 years longer than the OECD average of 81.1. The gap with Switzerland, the top-ranked country at 84.3 years, was just 0.8.

Korea still has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries, though the figure has declined over the past decade. The rate fell from 30.3 per 100,000 people in 2012 to 23.2 in 2022. As of that year, the OECD average was 10.7, less than half of Korea’s rate.

In 2022, Korea’s avoidable mortality rate was 151 per 100,000 people, well below the OECD average of 228.6. The rate measures deaths that could have been prevented through better public health efforts or timely medical care.

Korea’s infant mortality rate was 2.5 deaths per 1,000 live births, lower than the OECD average of 4.1.

Among Koreans aged 15 and older, 15.3 percent were daily smokers, slightly higher than the OECD average of 13.2 percent. The rate has steadily declined over the past decade, previously falling from 19.9 percent in 2013 to 17.5 percent in 2018.

People in the same age group consumed an average of 7.8 liters of pure alcohol per year in Korea, which is lower than the OECD average of 8.6 liters. The estimate is based on standard alcohol content: 4 to 5 percent for beer, 11 to 16 percent for wine and 40 percent for spirits.

Alcohol consumption has steadily declined over the past decade, previously dropping from 8.7 liters in 2013 to 8.5 liters in 2018.

Just over 36 percent of Koreans aged 15 and older were classified as overweight or obese — the second-lowest rate among OECD countries after Japan. The United States had the highest rate at 72.2 percent.

Korea had 2.7 practicing doctors per 1,000 people, including traditional Korean medicine practitioners — the second-lowest figure among OECD countries after Japan. The number was roughly on par with Canada, Mexico and the United States, while Austria and Italy had the highest.

When it comes to new medical professionals, Korea had 7.4 medical graduates per 100,000 people, third-lowest among OECD countries. The figure includes graduates in Korean traditional medicine but excludes dentistry. Only Israel and Canada had fewer.

Despite having fewer new doctors, Koreans visited physicians more often than any other OECD country. Each person averaged 18 outpatient visits per year, nearly three times the OECD average of 6.5. Japan followed with 12.1 visits, while Mexico, Costa Rica, Sweden and Greece reported fewer than three.